Online SIG Meetings
Monday 25th August 2025 | Online
Please email Zinnia Mevawalla if you wish to register for this meeting.
Thursday 18th September 2025 | Online
Hybrid SIG Meetings
Monday 25th August | Comenius University Bratislava
These SIG meetings will take place in Bratislava with an option to join online. Please expand individual meetings for more information and locations.
Where: Room G113, 1st Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
Where: Room G211, 2nd Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
No registration required.
EECERA 2025 Pre-conference Meeting information:
The Multilingual Childhoods SIG invites conference delegates to an EECERA 2025 pre-conference meeting on Monday, 25th of August from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The topic theme is ”Early Education for All: Celebrating Diversity and Seeking Inclusion” from a multilingual childhoods’ perspective.
As the Multilingual Childhoods SIG was established in 2015, we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary with two keynote presentations:
- Sandie Mourão and Gunhild T. Alstad: A decade of Multilingual Childhoods In this session we will provide an overview of the activities undertaken by the Multilingual Childhoods SIG in the last decade and share some of the key moments and achievements of this important SIG.
- Fríða Bjarney Jónsdóttir: Policy, research and practice in Iceland; How can we cocreate the education of multilingual children in a holistic, culturally sensitive and appropriate way? Policy in Iceland is in favour of enhancing active multilingualism, supporting the development of Icelandic the language of the school and society and developing positive relationships with families across languages and cultures. Nevertheless there are multiple challenges when it comes to the belonging and success of multilingual children and their families in ECE. In the presentation Fríða will discuss some of these challenges, draw on findings from her and other research and discuss the MEMM project that she is currently coordinating, where the focus is on the welcoming and education of multilingual children nationwide.
Bios for the keynote speakers
- Gunhild T. Alstad is professor in educational linguistics at the Faculty of Education, University of Inland Norway. Her research interests involve second language/multilingual pedagogy in early childhood education and language ideologies in education. She was co-convenor of the SIG between 2015-2020, and 2022-2024.
- Fríða B. Jónsdóttir is a preschool teacher specializing in multicultural ECE. She has contributed to research, taught in-service and pre-service teachers and participated in policy making in the field. Currently, she serves as a coordinator at the Ministry of Education and Children where she leads a two year national project focusing on the education of linguistically and culturally diverse children and youth. Her Doctoral thesis, titled “Giving Wings to Voices: Preschool as an Inclusive Learning Space for Communication and Understanding“ explores teachers‘ practices with multilingual preschool children and their families.
- Sandie Mourão is a Senior Researcher at Nova University of Lisbon where she researches early foreign language learning. She was co-convenor of the SIG between 2015 and 2019.
Where: Room G104, 1st Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
This hybrid meeting will offer an opportunity to hear 4 lightning talks from members based in the UK, Switzerland and the USA on a range of relevant topics, and there will also be time for general discussion and questions.
This is a newly formed SIG and the meeting is open for anyone to attend. If you’re interested in attending online, please contact Nicola Wallis who will send you the instructions and a link to join.
Where: Room G114, 1st Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
Agenda
3:30 – 3:40 Introduction to the SIG idea
3:40 – 4:10 Getting to know each other
- Short introduction of participants and their research focuses
4:10 – 4.25 Summary of previous activities
4:25 – 4:50 Next steps
- Web page
- Funding
- Collaborations
4:50 Concluding remarks and agreements
If you have any questions, and to receive the link to join the meeting online, please do not hesitate to contact Nina Hogrebe and Lise Lemay.
In-person SIG Meetings
Monday 25th August | Comenius University Bratislava
Please expand individual meetings for more information and locations.
Where: Room Š-407, 4th floor, Faculty of Education, Comenius University Bratislava, Šoltésovej 4, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia
The Gender SIG invites to its 13th research conference. The research conference has developed as a space for discussing issues of gender equality and diversity in ECEC on a global level. It is giving room for progressing the participants’ individual research development by mutual support of well-experienced colleagues as well as early career researchers.
Aims and topics of the SIG gender are at the core of the 2025 EECERA Annual conference theme of “Celebrating diversity and seeking inclusion”. We experience a world tending to polarized discourses in many fields, including (but not only) gender issues. Researchers meet highly polarized conflicts around gender diversity and gender-inclusive legislation and language, and also the growing gender gap in some recent political votes. At the same time, we experience a lack of interest in gender issues in the work force, despite the current shortage of teachers in many countries. Against this backdrop, the EECERA SIG gender continues to discuss these topics and highlights the need for dialogue..
The meeting is the Annual meeting of the EECERA Special Interest Group Gender, and as such it is open to all interested researchers.
For more information and to view the programme, please click here.
If you would like to attend this event, please complete the registration form and email it to Joanne McHale.
Where: Room Š-404, 4th floor, Faculty of Education, Comenius University Bratislava, Šoltésovej 4, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia
Where: Room G118, 1st Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
Where: Room G127, 1st Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
Where: Room G115, 1st Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
Where: Room G246, 2nd Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
Where: Room G244, 2nd Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
Where: Room G113, 1st Floor, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava, Gondova 2, 811 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
The meeting of the SIG Working With Parents and Families will be an informational, integrative, and reflective gathering, aimed at summarising our work over the past year and discussing plans for the upcoming year.
We also warmly welcome new members who are interested in joining the group and contributing to our activities.